EDINBURGH & BERWICK SORTING TENDER
Entire from Manchester to Edinburgh, mailed at the 1d per ounce GB inland rate, which was found to contain coin at the Manchester sorting office. Consequently the entire was marked 'Posted out of course' and registered. It was despatched via the EDINR & BERWICK SORTING TENDER rather than the more usual Edinburgh & Carlisle Sorting Carriage.
This duty had a relatively short life, from 1870 to 1885, and the late Harold Wilson only recorded one postmark (W787) in use from 1873 to 1885.
The entire was registered and posted in Manchester on 25th June 1873, the penny postage prepaid with the penny red (plate 50) and the registration fee noted with the hand-written "4d" and "Registered - 25/6/73"
The normal route for the letter would have been via the Manchester Sorting Tender to Crewe and then north to Carlisle where it would have been walk sorted for Edinburgh on the Edinburgh & Carlisle Sorting Carriage (and possibly receiving one of the "EDINR M" postmarks as a backstamp). So how did it end up at Berwick on Tweed? I think that it somehow missed the connection with the Manchester ST and was sent to Stalybridge where it would have put into the Midland TPO Going North to Newcastle on Tyne and from there, forwarded on to Berwick.
Notes by Keith Morris
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